On the other hand, at least a dozen redskins bit the dust in the first few minutes’ fighting, although only twenty or thirty men fired at them.
They approached nearer to the fort, and the colonel ordered another twenty-five men to join the firing party.
By gradually increasing the resistance, he wanted to make it appear that he was putting forth his greatest possible effort to repel the onslaught.
Suddenly there was a loud war whoop, which Buffalo Bill recognized as coming from the renegade, Kennelly.
Next moment the entire force of the Indians leaped to their feet and charged toward the fort, uttering a chorus of frightful yells that would have made the blood of most men run cold.
When the leaders of the host were within about thirty yards of the walls, the colonel shouted:
“Now, boys, let them have it!”
Instantly there was a blaze of flame all around the fort.
Over five hundred rifles discharged their dreaded messengers of death at the same moment, and the four field guns, posted one at each corner of the fort, hailed shell at the advancing Indians, tearing terrible gaps in their ranks.
It was impossible for any army to withstand such a sudden and fearful shock. The redskins halted with one accord, as if they had suddenly been struck with paralysis.